photo by pshutterbug

Imagine if you had Rs 100,000 and had the full freedom to decide where to park (invest) it — where would you put it? Rewind — last quarter of 2007, no doubt it would’ve been the stock market calling your money. But hey, considering the bearish sentiments in the stock market today you’ve got to carefully evaluate your investment decisions.

Here’s how you could look at investing the amount:

CASH IS KING

With the inflation rate at 12.40% (approx as on Aug 28, 2008) you’re gonna have higher outflows in your monthly home budget. Make sure you have about 3-6 months of your living expenses set aside in either:

(1) A savings account that’s linked to a fixed deposit. This ensures you enjoy a slightly high rate of interest (as compared to a normal savings account) along with the liquidity of a Savings Account. And hey, you don’t even pay any penalty to access your funds which otherwise is the case when you access your funds in a normal Fixed Deposit account. [Read more]

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The application for the home loan is a very simple procedure. Most banks offer a home banking facility wherein the bank’s executive visits you at a convenient time, at your home or office. He liaises between you and the bank, also suggesting schemes, added benefits, interesting insurance policies and educating you on the best rate of interest. However certain homework is essential about the interest rate offered by other banks for a comparative analysis and also enquiring about hidden charges in processing fees and penal interest.

Here’s a ready reckoner for the list of documents to avail home loans.

FOR SALARIED APPLICANTS

• Photographs of recent nature. The number of photos specified by the bank.
• Identification with photographs in the form of Election Identity Card/ PAN card/ valid driving license/ valid passport.
• Form 16 with current employer. In case of change of job (in an assessment year) then it is necessary to submit Form 16 from both the employers.
• Exact proof of address is done with Passport/ telephone bill/ electricity bill/ agreement of house rent in case of rental residence.
• The salary slips of the past three or six months has to be submitted to the bank in original, which features the salary statement for the past six months.
• The initial cheque for the processing fee favoring the bank has to be submitted for processing the loan. [Read more]

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Photo by Neopixx

This guest-post is by Jeff Miller. He is an Economist by training, a tech geek by inclination, and an IT Manager and a Real Estate Investor by experience. Jeff also knows a number of people who are smarter and better connected than he is and he hopes to share what he has learnt with you in a series of articles that will complement his somewhat lengthy comment to my post Black Money Saves Our Financial Sector.

As I mentioned in US Housing Market Crisis caused by Mortgage Backed Securities, the recasting of the minimum payment loans caused a lot of what we are seeing. Looking back on those loans will give us a clue as to what is going to happen in the housing market.

The minimum payment loans started being mass marketed in 2004. At that time, many of those loans were set to recast after a set interval. There were two intervals, 3 year and 5 year. The 3 year recasts hit in 2007. The 5 year recasts will hit in 2009. So, we know what will be coming in 2009. I don’t think that 2009 will hit us as bad as 2007. For one thing, the institutions will already be geared up to handle the loans (loss mitigation departments, REO departments, etc.). Also, the public will be use to it and is less likely to panic (unless the new media succeeds in its “the sky is falling” reporting). [Read more]

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It feels great when your blog post is a source of inspiration for others to start a new blog. And that’s precisely what happened with this post Black Money Saves Our Financial Sector. [Read more]

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